


He sees the killers face, maybe it's someone standing in a killers place

by junebugtwin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adam Taurus Being an Asshole, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, At one point, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Depression, F/F, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Past Abuse, Past Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus, Poor kids, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Poverty, Suicidal Thoughts, Things get better!, also Weiss will make an appearance, blake runs away to patch when she' a kid, yangs trying to be an adult for ruby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:46:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28850802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junebugtwin/pseuds/junebugtwin
Summary: The girl looks so small, skinny arms completely hidden by the same worn hoody she was wearing four days ago, hair greasy, a slim pink scar running under her chin up to her cheek. She looks like she’s Yang age. And she looks so scared. She looks terrified- but there’s something else too, in the slump of her shoulders, the exhausted slant of her eyes.She looks defeated, like she’s already given up, prepared to take whatever Yang throws her way without complaint. It’s kind of a silly reaction but it makes Yang fee vaguely nauseous for reasons she can’t comprehend other than- no one should look like they’re going to cry over two crushed granola bars.So Yang does what she would want someone to do for her if she was desperate enough to steal food for her and Ruby; she nods, just barely, and goes back to thinking about stew.She stands there for a few minutes before moving on, heart beating oddly fast, and by the time she gets to the counter she can’t see the girl anywhere.----or, a modern/normal AU where Yang is young and tired of acting as the adult in her father’s place, and Blake is young and tired and angry- but maybe they can be more than that together.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 12
Kudos: 54





	He sees the killers face, maybe it's someone standing in a killers place

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is a modern/normal non-apocalyptic AU of RWBY, where nobody has powers but Faunus still exist because they are incredibly cool. I tried to make things a bit more realistic feeling with this one, so it's a relatively slow burn since Blake and Yang don't even really know each other in this. 
> 
> Also- there's some dark themes in this, which to be fair are present in the show as well, but it should be said: if your sensitive to abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, or homelessness/ poverty, then please be careful! That makes this fic sound pretty dark, but I promise it's not all that dim!
> 
> Also, also- I've changed most characters ages up a bit, but Ruby is twelve, Weiss is thirteen, Yang is fourteen and Blake is very recently fifteen.
> 
> Have fun and don't forget to comment if you liked it! :-)

All of her sister’s mittens are dying of the same ailment, the fabric of the palms bleeding mud and snow and dirt, the fingertips worn ragged and speckled with holes. She tells her to be careful with them, over and over, but there’s always some reason- she saw a wet dog and it accidentally maybe bit her gloves when she tried to pet it, the kids were playing on the jungle gym after a rain and Jacob said she was a wimp if she didn’t join in, or she fell. When Ruby says ‘she fell’ she doesn’t say ‘because my boots are too big for me’ even though they are, just like Yang sighs but doesn’t say they don’t have the money for new gloves _or_ new boots, even though they definitely don’t. They’ve both gotten pretty good at speaking in circles around each other.

Yang doesn’t have gloves anymore, but she runs hotter than most, and she’s wearing dad’s coat besides- she just tucks her hands in the long worn sleeves. Ruby half skips beside her, jumping between potholes and puddles as she tries to crack the last bits of ice still clinging to the road.

It might be spring out, but Yang’s not keen on calling it that out loud, because every time she hopes the cold is finally ending, it snows again. But for at least right now, the snow on the sides of the road is melting brown and grey, wet slurry that sinks into your socks and stays there, leaving gravel in your boots. The fields on their right are finally starting to show patches of vomit colored grass, cows tentatively sniffing at the mud. The forest on their left is basically unchanged from winter however, the shade cast by the tough pine boughs more than enough shelter. She can see places where pine-needles dropped into the snow and sunk, or the stray squirrel footprints leading up and around the treeline.

Yang kicks a rock idly, half-listening as her sister describes some new world she made up, a land where queens and kings are chosen by giant rock people, and then they have to duel each other to the death- or maybe just until one of them gets knocked out? Ruby seems to think a killing match would be cooler but then every time she tries to expand upon that idea she seems to feel too bad.

Yang’s looking up at the grey clouded sky; worrying a bit about the assignment she didn’t have time to finish last night when she sees a girl.

Perched on a nearby fence, dark hair almost disappearing into the murky depths of the woods behind her, she looks a bit like a ghost. It’s not that nobody lives out here, but well- nobody lives out here. At least, not anybody that Yang couldn’t recognize a thousand miles away with their back turned. There are no strangers, not on an island as small as patch, and not on a road as lonely as theirs. She knows nobody new has moved the same way she knows she’s got five fingers without having to check- she would have definitely heard by now if it wasn’t the case.

As she gets closer she can see the girls features a bit better- she’s wearing a worn grey hoodie that’s too big for her, holes in the bottom and threads peeking out from the sleeves. Her jeans aren’t looking much better, the skin of her knees peeking out from the damaged fabric, and the end of the legs stained an ugly purple by mud water that never washed off. She’s got a black backpack sitting in the frost bitten dirt beside her, and a notebook in her bare shivering hands. Her hair is black and short, splayed messily out in a cut that looks more rushed than fashionable, dusk colored cat ears blending in easily atop her head. Her eyes are hazel and narrowed in concentration as she stares at her notebook, bringing one hand up to run through her hair in an anxious motion that is so familiar it hurts.

The girl’s eyes are shadowed and bagged and she looks so _tired_.

Last night Yang spent hours biting off the eraser of her nub of a pencil, going and re-going through the list of all the things they needed with a sharp pain clogging her throat and eyes fuzzy. Toothpaste and soap and hats and shirts and milk and flour and some stuff she doesn’t even know- like what does she get to fix the way their front steps seem like they’re going to collapse at any second? How does she fix their washing machine- it keeps making these horrible noises and her and Ruby have to take turns trying to coax it back into working order every thirty minutes- and how is she supposed to know what to do with any of that?

She wonders if her face looks anything like the girls.

The dark haired girl looks up, haggard eyes catching Yang’s own for one guilty moment before she looks away, trudging past her with an oblivious Ruby. She winces inwardly at the blunder, but goes back to thinking about her chances of finishing her book report before lunch is over.

* * *

Patch isn’t really big enough that they get a big brand name superstore or anything, but at least they have more than one grocery store. Well. Marries is more of a ‘mom and pop’ store maybe, though she’s not a hundred percent sure on the difference. She thinks maybe it’s that Marry once let her pay for something by promising to clear the small parking lot of snow for three days while her husband got back from the mainland.

The shelves here are not uniformly made, with some high and wooden and others metal and low and rusted. It’s a good store, lots of cheap stuff, lots of weird stuff too- and Yang used to love running up to the ‘freshly caught’ board on the wall, which displayed new and bizarre items brought in by people all around town. Obviously, she can’t do that anymore, she’s not a kid, and besides, _someone’s_ got to shop for groceries.

Ruby might, except she’s at home making dinner- which is ramen, since it’s the only thing Yang remotely trusts her with.

She runs her finger tips over cans of stew thoughtfully, trying to remember what lasted them the longest last time, or which ones Ruby was growing tired of, or whether or not she could afford an extra can this time.

There’s a slight shuffling noise to her side, and Yang looks up in time to catch someone shoving two granola bars into their hoody pocket. With a start she realizes it’s the odd girl from the fence, and they lock eyes.

It seems as if time stops for a moment, as she stares into startled gold eyes- they aren’t hazel they’re gold- and wonders if she should tell.

She knows Marry, has since from before she could reach over the rickety oak countertop to nudge coins over with hands padded with suntanned baby fat. She’s a good woman, done lots of things for Yang’s family, and isn’t rich enough that she can really afford to be shoplifted from too much anyway. She should probably say something- but-

The girl looks so small, skinny arms completely hidden by the same worn hoody she was wearing four days ago, hair greasy, a slim pink scar running under her chin up to her cheek. She looks like she’s Yang age. And she looks so _scared_. She looks terrified, like the punishment for shoplifting is going to be so much direr than Marry chewing her out and sending her on her way- but there’s something else too, in the slump of her shoulders, the exhausted slant of her eyes.

She looks defeated, like she’s already given up, prepared to take whatever Yang throws her way without complaint. It’s kind of a silly reaction but it makes Yang feel vaguely nauseous for reasons she can’t comprehend other than- no one should look like they’re going to cry over two crushed granola bars.

So Yang does what she would want someone to do for her if she was desperate enough to steal food for her and Ruby; she nods, just barely, and goes back to thinking about stew.

She stands there for a few minutes before moving on, heart beating oddly fast, and by the time she gets to the counter she can’t see the girl anywhere.

* * *

She’s just bursting out old stained metal doors into the schoolyard when she’s nearly knocked over, letting out a solid ‘oof!’ as a small body collides with hers. She bristles for a moment, before realizing it’s just Ally.

Ally is not in Yang’s grade, or even Ruby’s, which makes sense because she’s ten. Still, it’s not that odd that she’s on this side of the school- there is only _one_ school after all, and Yang remembers sneaking into the ‘big kids’ territory plenty of times herself when she was younger. She only knows the girl personally because she lives close enough to their cabin that she sort of counts as a neighbor. They used to go over to her mom’s old house for tea back when Summer was alive, and these days Yang can get fresh veggies and homemade jam if she brings some chopped up wood over when the weathers nicer.

Ally blows a thick lock of brown hair out of her eyes, craning her neck up to peer at Yang, her expression slightly panicked.

“Ruby’s in a fight, by the big rocks-It’s Cody!” She exclaims hurriedly, and Yang blanks for a moment before the meaning of the words hit her and she spins on her heel- rocks skittering with the sharp movement- and bursts into a run.

She’ll thank Ally later, but right now all she can feel is worry. Worry and anger hot enough that it feels like her insides are boiling, like steam should be rising from her mouth like a hand of a god. Yang is angry all the time, about _everything_ , about taxes and stupid adult paperwork and laundry and dishes that weren’t dried and the garden she couldn’t grow and her mom dying and her dad sitting, just _sitting_ , in his stupid bed with his stupid eyes closed like he couldn’t hear them crying, like he didn’t _care_ -

But she shoves it down. She buries it- because she doesn’t have time, and Ruby needs her, and the one time she yelled at her for breaking a cup Ruby had burst into messy tears, just like she had over dad and mom and _everything_ \- and Yang had felt like a monster for making her baby sister upset, and it hadn’t helped anything had it?

But now? _Now_ she can use it, now all the little irritations and frustrations and utter rages come up exhumed like smoke from a forest fire, clouding her vision ash red. She’s going to fucking _kill_ Cody.

She turns the corner, ignoring the looks she’s probably getting from the few kids that get out as late as she has, whipping her head around so fast her neck complains.

She expects the pathetic circle of two or three gawkers, expects the hushed whimpers, the smell of iron- but as soon as she actually looks at the situation she stops in her tracks, dumbfounded.

Ruby is there, in the center, but she’s fine- no bruises or scratches to speak of. The only thing out of place is her hair, which is messier than usual, and her books, which are on the ground.

Cody is there too, except he’s on his ass on the dirty parking lot concrete, nose gushing blood like from a horror movie, crap colored eyes wide as dinner plates. His mouth which is usually in a stupid little smirk is trembling and there’s a fear and a lack of smug arrogance in his posture that he hasn’t had since his dad said his family was gonna move to the mainland to be rich or whatever.

Standing over him like the grim reaper is the girl with the dark hair. She looks fine, or, at least she looks as rough as she seems to always look. He clearly didn’t get a hit on her, and the only sign she was the one to mess up his nose is the splotch of blood on her sleeve.

She looks so different than she did at Marries- back straight and head held high, confident and assured like she wasn’t even remotely afraid of a boy twice her size. Her lips are held in a firm frown that’s almost cold, but her nose is wrinkled slightly and her eyes are angry.

Yang lets out a silent huff of air, relief washing over her so sharply that she can physically feel her muscles relax.

The girl’s ears flick her way immediately, and she snaps her head to look at her, blinking in surprise as they once again meet eyes un-expectantly.

“Yang!” Ruby practically shouts before jumping into her arms, and Yang lifts her up, squeezing with all her might. Her love feels like a solid thing, thrumming in her bones so strongly she’s sure Ruby must feel it- god- her hands are shaking from the fear that her sister might be hurt, might hit her head and be dead- and what would she do then? Would waking up be even worth it if Ruby wasn’t there? Probably not. Maybe Dad made that calculation too, decided Ruby and Yang weren’t enough to keep his eyes blinking in a world without Summer.

“Ruby! What the _hell_!? What happened?” She pants, trying to keep the rage that curled up in her chest out of her voice- she’s nothing but happy that her sisters unhurt, even if it would have felt nice to beat Cody to a mushy little pulp.

Ruby squeaks and wiggles herself out of Yang’s probably too tight grip.

“It was crazy Yang! I was just waiting for you to come and then Cody was being his usual jerky self, and I tried to ignore him but it was hard, and then he pushed me! And all my books got on the ground, and I called him an as- ah-a butthole, um, and then he was gonna do something, I dunno what cus’ then this girl came in and BAM! She punched him right in his stupid face! It was amazing!!” Ruby ranted passionately, miming the different actions with her hands as she spoke, eyes practically sparkling.

Yang blinked, before turning to look over at the girl. Cody had taken the chance to scamper off somewhere to lick is wounds, and the girl had inched a bit away looking anxious and awkward, like she didn’t know whether or not she was supposed to stick around. It was a weird contrast to the story Ruby had just told of a bold hero stepping in to defend a random stranger.

Yang laughed sheepishly, putting her hand out.

“Hey, oh man thank you so much, that was really great of you. I’m Yang.” She said, trying to look friendly, though honestly she was still in a bit of shock.

The girl paused, before carefully extending her hand and wrapping it around Yang’s. It was cold and kind of clammy, and she had rough calluses like most of the people around here- as well as small bumps of raised flesh that must have been scars, which was significantly less common.

“Uh, it’s fine. Blake.” She winced immediately afterward, like she’d said something stupid- but Yang hadn’t noticed anything amiss, other than that she looked like she was about to crawl out of her skin at the contact. Yang let go, and smiled. This was sort of a weird interaction, and she could tell Blake wanted to leave by the way she was shifting her feet- but Yang had been raised that if someone did you a good turn, that you were supposed to do the same. No one in Patch had failed to offer a meal for a kind favor for basically all of eternity, and Yang wasn’t about to break that rule, as awkward as this was.

“You should come to dinner with us- uh, It’ll just be me and Ruby but yknow, it’ll be nice.” Yang offered hesitantly, bolstered by Ruby’s immediately shouts of approval and encouragement.

Blake shuffled a bit, ducking her head so her expression couldn’t be read under her hair, but Yang managed to catch the raw surprise and vulnerability on her face before it lowered.

Yang had a feeling Blake wouldn’t refuse, if not out of politeness, than because she looked like she probably needed a good meal or five.

“Uh, if I wouldn’t be too much of a bother?” She mumbled, glancing up shyly, yellow eyes flickering with hesitance, shoulders tense like Yang would laugh and take back the offer the moment she sniffed out weakness.

“Of course not you’re my _hero_!!” Ruby burst out, smile beaming and hands flying. Blake jumped a little, a small amused smile making its way to her face. It was a small change, but somehow, even with her messy hair and less than brand new outfit, it managed to make her almost glow. Yang flushed a little, chuckling but nodded good naturedly.

Maybe this would be a nice change.


End file.
